Monday, August 20, 2018

"Truth isn't truth," says Rudy Giuliani


Will Don McGahn flip on Trump?
This the perfect opening for a piece on another of Donald Trump's lawyers that apparently has a wealth of information on his boss, and thinks it is something special investigator Robert Mueller should know. The article I am reading from a very reputable source is anything but clear on what Don McGahn has revealed or will talk about in the future. The implication is that Trump actually condones what McGahn is doing, urging him to testify from the beginning. Giuliani's comment about truth is, of course, his typical confusion with reality.

It is known that McGahn has "knowledge of intense encounters" with Donald Trump and his cooperation stems from earlier advice from T-rump's previous attorneys. William Burck, McGahn’s lawyer, even credits Trump with a commitment not to interfere. The problem with this is that you can never believe what Donald Trump says. And here's a good reason why...
"McGahn also told Mueller how the president tried without success to get his then staff secretary Rob Porter to warn McGahn that he could be fired if he didn’t deny the Times article that said the president ordered him to fire Mueller."
One former administration official said that Trump  "did not immediately grasp the difference between the White House lawyer and his personal lawyer" when it is in fact McGahn's "job is to protect the office of the president, not Trump the individual."

Sunday, August 19, 2018

Will Catholics re-think their religion?



Let me get this straight right here. I am a firm supporter of the LGBT community; 101%! But it seems perfectly obvious to me that the priesthood must attract more than its share of gay men. And there is nothing wrong with that except, some of them are either pedophiles or turn to pedophilia later partly because of the stupid church law against priests marrying. And yet another ridiculous law that women cannot be priests. This rigid doctrine isn't working and being another firm supporter of Pope Francis, I thought something would change under his leadership. By the way, I am not a Catholic.

Sexual abuse in the Catholic church is completely out of control and with a hierarchy in place to protect the abusers, and at best just move them from one diocese to another where they continue their shenanigans, most of the time unmonitored because the new position doesn't have information on past offenses. It's like pedophilia in perpetual motion. And it isn't always gay; in many cases it involves young girls. I know that Catholics are cautioned never to question the church, and that may be worst problem right there. If there was ever a time the Catholic church should be questioned, it is now.

But who will do it?

Saturday, August 18, 2018

High ranking naval officer is Trump's latest critic


Retired Adm. William McRaven
The architect of the Bin Laden assassination "issued a stunning rebuke of President Donald Trump's decision to revoke the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan." Retired Adm. William McRaven defended former CIA Director John Brennan as "one of the finest public servants I have ever known, a man of unparalleled integrity." Donald Trump, who qualifies for none of that description, responded by threatening to yank more security clearances for all others who chastise him. McRaven volunteered to "have his own security clearance revoked in an act of solidarity."

McRaven said...
"Therefore, I would consider it an honor if you would revoke my security clearance as well, so I can add my name to the list of men and women who have spoken up against your presidency."
This is truly pathetic when coming from a top navy man who is talking about his former commander-in-chief. Other top officials and military officers said the same. Brennan put it this way...
"This action is part of a broader effort by Mr. Trump to suppress freedom of speech & punish critics. It should gravely worry all Americans, including intelligence professionals, about the cost of speaking out. My principles are worth far more than clearances. I will not relent," Brennan tweeted after the announcement.
McRaven made a parting comment about Donald Trump...
"Through your actions, you have embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation."
Good God, how much more of this can we take before this whole country implodes?

Friday, August 17, 2018

Can we turn dead malls into homeless shelters?



This is a great idea from Facebook for making use of the abandoned shopping malls around the country to give the homeless a place to live and receive decent food. The malls are there throughout the U.S., many already closed. In December 2017, CNN Money predicted 300 out of the 1,100 malls that now exist will close over five years. What happens is the anchor store closes, which brings down the smaller shops one by one until the mall becomes a ghost town. The facilities are still there like the food courts to convert to cafeterias and the stores to small apartments and business amenities.

This would require a philanthropic entrepreneur with enough money to get the job done. Maybe Warren Buffett and Bill Gates could team up and put their foundations behind something like this to solve one of this country's biggest problems, one a rich country like the USA shouldn't have. The renovation could include medical facilities, daycare for homeless mothers, financial centers for counseling and aid. There is no end to the possibilities of something that could be done about what has plagued this country for years. Think about it and let me know what you think.

More on this later.

Trump axes ex-Obama officials security clearance due to his criticism


Trump and a determined John Brennan
"Don't piss me off" should have been Donald Trump's 2016 campaign slogan. This dufus cannot tolerate criticism of any kind and retaliates for anything said or done that doesn't either promote or praise him. Check out this site where you will find a list of those who either resigned or were fired by Trump. But the security clearance thing is new and the Oval Office lunatic just revoked the security clearance for John Brennan, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Trump said the former Obama CIA chief has displayed “erratic behavior." Translated, he spoke ill of Trump.

Sarah Sanders in delivering the latest bomb citing instances where Brennan supposedly exhibited this behavior. The media has refuted this statement with facts and Brennan commented, nothing will stop me from criticizing the Trump administration. There are several more, all of which have somehow castigated T-rump, all but one from the former Obama administration. In the same CBS news article this observation...
"Brennan has been extremely critical of the president. He called Mr. Trump's joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of the Helsinki summit last month "nothing short of treasonous."
In a tweet from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky...
"Is John Brennan monetizing his security clearance? Is John Brennan making millions of dollars divulging secrets to the mainstream media with his attacks on @realDonaldTrump ?"
And this is a Republican who apparently agrees that Trump is off the deep end, as usual. The decision to revoke the clearance came a day after Brennan, who headed the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency under Democratic President Barack Obama, leveled a blistering attack against Trump for the president’s tweeted criticism of former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman...
“It’s astounding how often you fail to live up to minimum standards of decency, civility, & probity. Seems like you will never understand what it means to be president, nor what it takes to be a good, decent, & honest person. So disheartening, so dangerous for our Nation.”
Damn! That says it all! 

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Trump requires NDAs, Obama didn't

Omarosa: You want me to what?

Donald Trump has required non-disclosure agreements from all of his staff, as revealed recently by former Trump campaign and White House aide Omarosa Manigault, and confirmed by Kellyanne Conway. Barack Obama did not require these same kinds of NDAs because his Associate White House Counsel Ian Bassin did not consider it within their capability to require NDAs of their employees. Just another illegal move by the master, T-rump. Re. all this, the media is asking...
"Why should we trust anything you say, when you are legally bound to say good things?"
The non-disclosure seems to center around the recent exposure of trump using the "N" word and MSNBC’s Katy Tur's recent question, above, to Trump 2020 spokesperson, Marc Lotter, who replied...
if he ever felt he was in a position that compromised his integrity, “then I wouldn’t work for that candidate any longer, and that’s just not something I’ve come across.”
Tur pressed further what if he was "appalled" at something and re-asked her question...answer: “if there was something that wrote to a criminal level,” his NDA wouldn’t prevent him from communicating with “the proper authorities.” One major publication reported...
that copies of Trump NDAs that have either been given or described to its reporters “lay out breathtakingly broad prohibitions on behavior and appear to be drawn heavily from similar contracts used in the past by the Trump Organization, the president’s family firm.”
Additionally...
signers promised not to ‘demean or disparage publicly’ Trump, his company or any member of his family — and also not to assist any other politician exploring a federal or state office and barred signers from sharing any information they had learned in the building,  
It would appear to almost any literate person--this of course doesn't include Trump supporters--that Donald Trump has an awful lot to hide. 

Wisconsin Gov Scott Walker a model of Karl Rove scare tactics


GOP portrayal of Democrats
You can trace Karl Rove's back-hand connivances to the George W. Bush administration with every known use of lies and dirty tricks known to the political world. He was still doing it in the 2016 New Hampshire race threatening Senate candidate Kelly Ayotte's opposition. She lost. Wisconsin's Republican Gov, Scott Walker is basically mirroring Rove in his current campaign saying things like...
“Those other things — health care, education — none of that matters unless you’re safe.” then he adds, if Democrats win, you and your family are in danger. Democrats want to let violent criminals back onto the street.
One reporter commented...
"If you were to distill the prevailing Republican campaign message for the 2018 midterm elections to one image, it would be this: a hooded figure in the shadows, machete (or knife or bladed fingers) in hand, waiting to pounce if the wrong candidate wins.
Life is a horror movie and it’s Democrats behind the hockey mask. Vote Republican."
The mostly white and uneducated supporters of Donald Trump eat this shit up with words like “Kill, Rape, Control” and absorb it like the gospel. The Republican no holds barred campaign has even added...


"Kathy Griffin holding the decapitated head of a mock Donald Trump doll, limousines burning in the street. Snoop Dogg literally shoots a Trump impersonator at the end."
Sure looks like to me the GOP is running scared. 

When conservatives turn against their own

 I have followed Wm. Kristol for years and it wasn’t very long ago that I considered him an ultra conservative that would never chastise the...